Hope Dies Last
by Courtni Desiree
Summary: SongFic of when Fang first chooses to leave Max. A little bit of Fax, I guess. Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, nor do I own the song.


**Hey, lookie! **

**_Another_ SongFic! **

**I'm having a lot of fun writing these, because they're a lot easier than a whole story, with lots of chapters. Sooner or later I'll run out of songs, though. xDD **

**This song is Hope Dies Last, by Holiday Parade. If you've never heard of them, I suggest checking them out, they're pretty dang awesome. (: **

**I found it fit, like... _realllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy_ fit. You'll see why. **

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_Make a wish tonight  
Take me back to the nights of last summer  
I come by 'round 9  
I couldn't help but wonder  
What's wrong, what's right?  
You're falling hard, and you're taking me under  
Baby, it's our time  
And baby, it's our time_

As we sat there in the small house we broke into… I couldn't control myself. Max had invited a killer to live with us. Run with us. Be with us.

What was wrong with her? Ari had tried to kill them. Repeatedly. I lost it then. Realizing at any second they could be dead. _Because of Max_.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked, standing over Max, my muscles and jaw tight.

She shoved the last piece of ravioli in her mouth and asked, "Can it wait?"

"No."

Then, she pushed her chair back, and started out to the porch, I was right one her heels.

I didn't _want_ to do this. This was Max. The girl I loved. The smartest, most wonderful and toughest girl on the planet. I had thought. Now… She was just turning into a soft, idiotic… I don't know. She had let Ari join us. Was she _trying_ to kill us all?

Seemed like that.

"Okay, let's have it out," She said, keeping her face cool, but I knew I was upsetting her. I was sorry, really, I was. But I wasn't ready to put up with Ari.

"Choose now," I spat at her, and if she tried to find out what I was really thinking, she would regret it. It showed in my eyes. "_Me,_" I spat again, "or _him_."

_I know they always say,  
True love's gotta set her free.  
And maybe I'll get lucky,  
She'll come flyin' back to me._

Now we were really splitting up. It was no joke, it was real, and I didn't think I could take it. But then I saw Ari, and I remembered him when he was trying to kill Max. My strength recovered as I realized the reason I hated him. He had tried to take Max's life more times than I could count. He almost took my life a few times, too.

"I've decided to go my own way," I announced, casting another glance at the Franken-eraser-bird in the room. "Almost anyone's welcome to come with me."

Then Max spoke. "I think we should all stay together until Fang comes back," she said, though I knew she wasn't ready to give up any of her flock, and me leaving was hurting her enough. If anyone else chose me, they'd just hurt her more.

I almost agreed that I'd go on my own, so not to cause anymore pain to her, but I didn't know when I'd see them again. I didn't want to be alone. So I held my mouth as everyone panicked mentally, and a few sentences were thrown around. Then I heard Iggy.

"I'll go with Fang," he announced and I smiled on the inside. Not that I was happy we were splitting up, but that meant Gazzy would come, too, and I wouldn't be alone.

It ended up the guys, apart from Ari, with me, and Total and the rest with Max. I really didn't want to do this, but I had to.

"Fine," I said, grabbing me backpack, throwing it on.

"Fine," Max retorted, lifting her chin in the air hiding her eyes from me so I didn't see how much this was hurting her.

It was best for us both.

_When you walk right by,  
You're falling hard, and you're takin' me under.  
I can't help but try  
Things I miss keep haunting my mind.  
Give me one more sign  
And give me one more sign_

That was that. We were split, and she had taken half of my heart. Half of my world. She took the east coast, leaving me the west. And that where I went.

Yeah, yeah. Cheesy way to look at it, but she had taken the only emotion that was natural to me. The fricken love emotion. And I already missed it.

And you know what? One of the reasons I left was because Ari tried to kill _Max_. Now _Max_ was living with him, and a dog, and two more bird-kids. I had told her she was making the biggest mistake of her life… But that was _me_ who was making that mistake. And if Ari was still trying to kill her and did… Then he might as well kill me, because without Max, I was dead.

We flew to the west, working to get as far away from them as possible. If I knew we were in a three hundred mile radius I would end up flying back to her on my knees begging for forgiveness. It almost sounded like a good idea.

Almost.

_I know they always say,  
True love's gotta set her free.  
And maybe I'll get lucky,  
She'll come flyin' back to me._

See, the difference here, was Max hadn't _let_ us split. It was all me. All my fault. And now as we were sitting outside the _People_ Magazine office, Keez walking up to us, I realized she didn't really need me. Sure, she used me as a shoulder to cry on, but she didn't need to cry. She was strong, and if it weren't for her, he would be dead. He would've been dead at least three or four times in life, by now. But she saved him.

He'd saved her, but that was maybe once? Possibly twice? And she hadn't needed help one of those times, and the other time she was just being stupid, trying to cut a chip out of her arm.

Any other time she needed help, it was just reassurance, which she only came to me for because I knew her best and _I_ went to _her_ if something was wrong with her.

She never needed me, I just needed her. I needed her more than I needed air.

She got the flock out of the hardest of situations and kept them all strong. She kept herself strong without me, didn't she? It was all in my head that I kept her strong, wasn't it? It was, because if I had ever kept her strong, she wouldn't have left me.

_Yeah...  
Yeah...  
Yeah...  
Yeah..._

She kept me strong, but I left her. I was so stupid. I left her because I didn't want to die. I didn't want Ari to kill me. But why didn't I realize that I would die for her when I was leaving? I mean, I've known it for a long while, but why couldn't I have told myself, _If you leave her alone and he kills her, she's gone, and you'll never be able to tell her you love her. Or die for her. Staying with her would let you die for her, if she was in danger._

But then I thought about… What if Ari really had changed? And I left her for no reason? What if she went off to save the world, she never thought twice about me because of all the crap I put her through? What if she fell in love with another boy like Sam and never thought twice about me?

I was pushing her in the wrong direction. She would never know how I loved her, would she? But then again, she would never care. It was just painful to think about, and the thought about her kissing that Sam kid. That killed me. It broke my heart when she kissed back. But she was a big girl, and I wasn't going to freak about her life. It wasn't mine, and it never would be part of mine, I guessed.

_Gimme a sign,  
I swear I'm gonna make it up to you.  
Just one more night,  
There's some things I just got to do._

I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't help myself. I was holding on by barely a string when a boy walked over to our table.

It had been almost two days since we split, maybe less. He didn't know. Didn't care to know.

"His footsteps…" Iggy concentrated on the man approaching. "Those footsteps . . . We heard them . . . in a subway tunnel." He finished, and I listened close. Nope, I heard no footsteps. But I still looked closer. Yup, the computer-nerd guy.

The guy approached them and we started talking. Then I flinched on the inside when he said, "Where's your girlfriend? The one with the chip inside her."

Gone. Because of me. All because of me. And she wasn't in pain now, as I was. She was out being happy. Casually, I blinked, but I was actually trying to calm myself down. Smooth, right? "Not with us." I told him and he relaxed some.

Then I had an idea.

Maybe if I impressed Max she'd come back to me. Maybe not, but it was worth a try.

_Gimme a sign  
I swear I'm gonna make it up to you  
With just one more night,  
There are some things I've just got to do  
Give me a sign  
I swear I'm gonna make it up to you  
And in watching all the things you do  
There's something that slips through to you  
Watching all the things you do  
There's something that slips through_

There was an email from her, and though I didn't show it, I was dying inside. She was in trouble, asking me for help. She was desperate. I didn't care. Well, I did, I cared about her a lot. But she could've been sending an email to say she hated me and I'd be happy knowing that she was alright.

But she wasn't, now.

So I mailed her back, trying to sound cool and collected. Like I usually sound. It worked, but only because it was typed, and she didn't have to hear my voice.

I hit send and leaned back, realizing, _No!_ _Don't sit back and relax! Get off your butt and go save her!_

Oh, right. Max.

I'll be with her soon. She'll yell at me for making us separate, and I'd take the blame. I knew it was my fault. Me and my stupid(but oh so amazingly awesome) blog.

I would have to explain, everything. I'd have to hope she somehow forgave me. I don't know how she would, but she had to give me a chance. I needed to make it up to her. She needed to give me a chance to say the words "I love you," before she killed me, and I really hope she'd realize just how much I needed her.

_I know they always say,  
True love's gotta set her free.  
And maybe I'll get lucky  
She'll come flyin' back to me_

I'd failed my rescue mission. I let flyboys distract me, keep me from rescuing her. But no surprise she saved herself. I knew she didn't need me. And now, Ari was dead. But I could see her on the computer screen in front of me.

When I had seen her laughing face on the screen, I almost lost it. Again. It took _a lot_ to keep my cool, but I did somehow. But one day I wouldn't be able to keep it any more.

Max was on her way home. Max was coming back to me. Max was flying back to me. Max was forgiving my mistake(I hoped…). Max was alive. She was okay. She had taken down the Director on her own, without me. She never really needed me. She stayed with me because she could. Because she wanted to.

Or, maybe it was she stayed with the flock, and stayed with me because I was part of the flock. I wasn't sure, but I didn't mind, as long as she would be back. Soon.

It was time to wait.

_Things I'll miss, I'm comin' back  
Somethings I just cannot change  
So let it go, make it happen.  
The things I miss ain't coming back  
There's some things that just cannot stay  
The things I miss ain't coming back  
There's some things that just cannot change_

And there she was. She was right there, looking for me, Gazzy, and Iggy. I was staring at her, from the tree line, the others not even catching my attention. Then I stepped out with my apple in my hand, looking casual. "You're late." I said.

And then she was running.

Her wings trailing behind her, I couldn't believe how incredibly amazing she looked, even if she was beat up. Then she was in my arms. I stood for a minute. I was… Confused. Really confused.

Maybe she did need me. Maybe she wasn't as strong as I knew, and she really truly needed me. Maybe I was the thing that kept her strong.

_Yes._ I heard a voice inside my head, and it was Angel. _Now hug her._

And I wrapped her tight, pulling her close. Her face was on my shoulder, and I was still holding her tight.

_Fang, you keep her going. You keep her alive. It was your note that had given her hope. It was the pain of you leaving her that made her defeat Omega. She needed you back, just once more before she left us. It was all you, Fang._

Angel was in my head. I didn't care. She knew Max's thoughts, and I was wrong three days ago. She _did_ need me. She loved me, she just didn't know it yet. "Don't ever leave me again," she whispered into my shoulders and I hugged her ever tighter, probably crushing her, but she didn't object.

"I won't." I promised, my voice cracking. I didn't sound like myself. "I won't," I said again, "Not _ever_."

Then another voice spoke up. "Excuse me?" Iggy interrupted. "I'm alive, too."

Max pulled away, and I loosened my arms, Silently angry at Iggy, but we were together again. Me and Max.

She had forgiven me. Just like that. She let it go, she came back.

My heart felt okay, again.

And no.

Throughout these three days I did not become a sap.

I fell deeper in love.

_I'll let it go…_

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**I somewhat liked this one, in a way. It just fit so well, but I got lazy and left half the story out. .-. **

**Which makes me hate it. **

**So, its in the middle. **

**As usual.  
**

**Okay, here are the reasons I found this fit: **

**Vs. 1: **

**"Whats wrong, whats right?" - Should Fang stay or should he leave? **

**Chorus: **

**"Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll come flyin' back to me." - Self-explanitory. xD **

**Vs. 2: **

**"Things I miss keep haunting my mind." - Everything that slips past Fang and hurts Max is making him overly protective to be sure he doesn't let anything else hurt her. **

**Bridge: **

**"I swear I'm gonna make it up to you." - He wants to make it up to her. **

**There are many, many, many, many, many more reasons this song is so perfect for this point in the story, but I'd bore you. **

**Review, please? (: **

**Gracias. :D  
**


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